Do You Mind If I “Cut” In? Celebrating the Mariemont Barber Shop’s 90th Anniversary

By Pete McBride

Not to “split hairs,” but do you know which of the Village’s oldest businesses is still unapologetically “taking short-cuts” with its loyal customers?

Yes. The Mariemont Barber Shop.

The establishment’s reputation for skilled barbering and sterling commitment to exceptional service date back to its founding in 1934 by a certain Mr. Hopewell who passed the business to Furman (“Mac”) McFadden in 1950.

Renato Salzano, who was born in Italy and moved with his family to America in 1958 and lived in Corryville, joined the shop’s barbering team in 1975, becoming the owner in 1980. Ron, as he came to be known by his many customers and friends, trimmed more than a few heads over the years - some for over 55 years. His celebrity customers have included English-American guitarist and singersongwriter (“Show Me the Way”) Peter Frampton as well as Senator Rob Portman, CFC coach Pat Noonan, former Reds pitcher Sam LeCure, and Bengals quarterback “Boomer” Esiason. A May 2023 Town Crier article aptly described Ron as “a gifted barber and Mariemont staple.” *

Shop” and its (then) staff included “lady hairstylists” in order to serve the “needs of the entire family”? That they even advertised for a manicurist for two weeks in April 1929?

Or that, according to the November 8, 1932, completed in 1937)? The barbershop at that time was outfitted with “handy cuspidors and sand urns ready to receive deposits from chewers and cigar smokers.”

The shop’s welcoming informality and exemplary quality of service have remained constantly high, but not without changes and growth. Did you know that it once advertised itself as “The Mariemont Barber and Style

Cincinnati Post, the shop was “looted” when “burglars stole $18 overnite (op cit) from the cash after ‘jimmying’ a window”? Or that the business was once located beside a streetside coffee shop, also located within the Mariemont Inn building (which was

In 1997 Ron sought to recruit a “next generation professional barber” and hired then 19-year-old Brian Peter. Brian is now a 26-year journeyman and stalwart on the shop’s talent roster, building and expanding its customer base to a next generation of loyal customers. Eugene “Lucky” McMillan (featured in a Town Crier article not many months ago) joined Ron and Brian in 2005. He now owns his own barber shop in Loveland.

In 2014, Ron’s grandson Tim Putterbaugh joined Ron and Brian, helping to bolster the talent pool and to cement the Salzano family connection to the business. The shop’s newest barber is Ryan Vail, who joined the team in January 2024.

Today, as it celebrates its 90th anniversary, the Mariemont Barber Shop is proudly owned by Brian and Tim. If you haven’t been in a while, stop in to check out the new look and decor. It’s as eclectic as its new owners. Online booking is now available on www. mariemontbarbers.com.

It remains a cornerstone of the Village as well as a treasured part of Mariemont’s rich “hair-itage.” cont'd on next page

* In December 2022 Ron was diagnosed with ALS (often known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and has now retired from practice. He is missed by many in Mariemont and beyond. You can read more about Ron here: https:// issuu.com/mariemonttc/docs/mariemont_ town_crier_may_2023_volume_47_issue_8

A special thank you to the Mariemont Preservation Foundation, especially Linda Bartlett, archivist, and Amanda Conners, executive secretary. Quotations were taken from the archives of the Cincinnati Post (“Barber Shop Is Looted,” 11/08/1932), the Cincinnati Enquirer (“Leases Mariemont Inn,” 03/26/1933), and the Mariemont Town Crier (“Barber Shop Expands,” October 1979; “Ron Salzano, A Gifted Barber and Mariemont Staple,” May 2023).

The History of ‘Barbering’

• In 5000 BCE ancient Egypt, barbering tools included sharpened flint and clamshells (for cutting and trimming).

• In ancient Greece, barbering skills were a well-guarded competency secretly passed down within families by many generations of “tonsors.”

• The word “barber” is derived from Latin “barba” (“beard”); the Latin words “tonsor” and “tondere” mean “clipper” and “to shear.”

• In the Middle Ages “barber surgeons” practiced barbering as well as bloodletting, minor surgery, and tooth extraction.

• 1096 saw the formation of a common trade guild for tonsorial practitioners.

• The red (blood), white (bandages), and blue (veins tapped to draw blood) of the barber pole originally symbolized that variety of “barbering” services offered by barber surgeons, and remains one of the most universally recognizable symbols today.

• In 1745, the medical group split from the barbers, forming the “Company of Surgeons” (now the Royal College of Surgeons of London).

• A school for barbers (possibly the world’s first) was established in Chicago in 1893.

• The late 18th century saw the emergence of African American barbers. Barbershops became social hubs where male persons of color could gather, nurturing culture and economic growth within Black communities.

• In the 1880s, a haircut could cost as much as ten cents and a shave three cents.

• Training hours for state licensing of barbers today range from 800 to 2000, with tuitions running as high as $10,000.